Lok's Hunt
by Familiar47
Summary: Lok must hunt down an assassin from the future, a scientist who can destroy the empire, and a killer gunning for Tallest Red on the world of Zedia V. Rating may change depending on content of fights.
1. Chapter 1

Lok's Hunt

_**A more serious look into Lok's job as the Tallests' Personal Assassin/Bounty Hunter.**_

_**Jana is the intellectual property of Zim'smostloyalservant.**_

_**Leka is property of Invader-Leka from DeviantArt.**_

_**Invader Zim is property of Jhonen Vasquez.**_

_**At first it was to be a one shot, but I felt it would be far too long so it will be several chapters.**_

Xxx

The planet Zedia II was just like two of the three other inhabitable planets in the Zedia system, arid and dangerous. But Zedia III and IV at least had oceans and suitable atmospheres for colonization. Zedia II's atmosphere was just barely suitable for keeping the average alien alive. It had the ruins of an old civilization that predated even the Irken Empire, but no traces of their advanced technology were found.

In the void of space, not too far from the planet, reality began to shift as a hole in the universe was slowly pulled open. A ship shot out of the tunnel, closing it behind it. The vessel was large, the size of a frigate, and looked brand new. It was based off of an old Vortian design, but had some Irken improvisations to it. It kept a gun metal colour, but had the Irken symbol pained on each side, right above the words 'OMNI-HUNTER RS 56B'.

On the bridge, several Irken technical drones manned the controls. One of them, a green eyed Irken who stood at 4'3, mere inches above the other drones sat in the Captain's chair. A pink eyed smeet sat in the navigation seat, tapping in orders to the Omni-Hunter's powerful engines. It used the gravity of Zedia II to slingshot around it and shoot out further into the system, heading for Zedia V, which was far more hospitable than the other three put together.

It had oceans, forests, mountains, desserts; it was all too similar to Earth. It also had signs of the same civilization from Zedia II. Perhaps Zedia II and its two other sister planets had been more welcoming before this civilization died off, and Zedia II got the worst of the after effects of their sudden extinction.

On Zedia V, the forests were filled with dangerous creatures and harsh natural plant life that could snap a full grown alien of most species in kind. This was why people preferred Zedia III and IV, which had more reasonable living conditions once the colonies were set up. Zedia IV was even the site of one of the most popular clubs in the galaxy.

The ship began to slow down as it entered orbit over the planet. It slowed down and allowed the planet's gravity to pull it along. Several thrusters on the front reduced the initial velocity until the ship began to slowly approach the planet on its own accord.

"We're here," The pink eyed Smeet, Kay chipped happily.

"Target Destination is in sight, all hands move to Yellow Alert," Loe, the green eyed Irken ordered. "Lok, are you ready?"

In the bowels of the ship, a taller, purple eyed Irken looked up from the bench he sat on. He was in the middle of the locker room attached to the small hangar bay, which only held one ship, his ship. He was clad in a pair of knee high black boots, one of which hid a small blaster and the other hid a knife; a pair of non-descript black pants, and a black sleeveless shirt. He sighed and pulled on a purple Invader style shirt over it, and then a dark brown trench coat that reached his knees.

"I'm ready to deploy any time Loe." Hunter Lok, personal assassin of the Tallest Purple-and to a lesser extent Tallest Red replied as he picked up a larger blaster pistol and slid it into his belt. Then he grabbed an Irken DER-34 carbine, which came with a customized scope and an under slung plasma grenade launcher. He checked the energy cell, and attached three spare cells to his belt before hanging the rifle on his back. Taking a few grenades of different kinds, he stuffed them into the pockets of his trench coat and pants. And finally, he took another, more bulky rifle sized weapon. It was more equivalent to humanity's scatter gun or 'shotgun'. It would fire a shell charged with magnetic energy to keep a layer of plasma around it focused and around it until it hit its target and detonated.

He slid a bandoleer of the shells over his left arm and under his right one. Strapping it to his suit, he checked the DER-38 Reaver, and slid a full six shells into the high powered shotgun. Hanging it across his back and forming an X shape with both weapons, he slid a glove over his Ascension gauntlet and his other hand.

He walked out into the hangar where half a dozen Irkens saluted him as he walked by.

"Captain! Your ship is ready for deployment!" An operator called from the second level of the hangar. "Chances of Successful Re-Entry stand at 98.4 percent!"

"I'd prefer one hundred, but I don't have time to be picky." Lok replied as he walked up the stairs to the cat walk and then over to where his fighter rested. He climbed in, securing his weapons under his seat and sliding a helmet on over his head. "Ready."

"Running one last sweep...all anomalies from our FTL Jump are too far to endanger your trip Captain, and all systems are operating at one hundred percent." The Operator reported as the canopy hissed shut. "Also, in case you need an evacuation, we have the emergency retrieval pod on standby and awaiting your order. I keyed it into your PAK signature."

"Good work, now leave the easy stuff to me." Lok tapped a key on the controls that released the docking clamps. The hangar doors slid open, a pressure shield keeping the atmosphere within the ship. The small fighter lifted itself off of the ground and then moved out of the Omni Hunter.

As soon as it was in position, it dropped out of the bottom of the frigate, and was immediately left behind as the larger ship's momentum carried it hundreds of miles away within seconds. The fighter on the other hand began its dive towards the planet. Lok gripped the controls.

"Altitude, 54 000 meters." He said calmly, reading off of the computer screen and speaking for the mission record.

It was mostly just in case he had an accident while on route to the surface, then if he didn't get back alive because something shot him out of the air at say...ten thousand meters above the ground the battle group that Tallest Red might send here next wouldn't be caught by surprise by it.

"Alright Lok, I'm detecting some energy signatures from the surface, but no weapons yet." Loe informed his leader. "Looks like they're waiting for you to make the first move."

"Of course," Lok angled his ship to land in an area just outside of the region where these energy signatures came from. It was a dense forest region with a few old structures scattered here or there.

"**Warning, weapons lock." **A smooth, whispery female voice said as the combat interface opened up in front of Lok and displayed two target locks on his fighter, one coming from within the active region of Zedia II and the other coming from an island just off of the shore of the active region.

"Lok, the landing zone is too hot!" Loe shouted. "I'm altering your computer's flight path to give you a better route."

"Alright, but make it quick!" Lok wrenched on the controls and avoided being blasted out of the sky by an Anti-Orbital rocket. "Omni-Hunter be advised I have heavy Orbitals incoming! Stay clear of Zedia II orbit!"

"We copy Captain, we also picked off that first rocket." Loe replied. "Okay, I have a plan. That island is where the rocket came from, the other gun locking onto you is a short range gun and is networked with the orbital launcher. If you land on the island and take out the control center there, you can hack into the network and give us control of the orbital defence and cut off any escape."

"Acknowledged Omni-Hunter, going in!" Lok shouted.

Xxx

Lok was too low in the atmosphere to be hit by the time the Orbital Launcher managed to realign itself. The command center was built in the ruins of an old temple by the ocean. Several automated turrets swept the area, blasting anything bigger than Jana's head.

The green eyed Irken was standing on the top of the ruins outside the makeshift command center that the Resisty had gladly set for her when she presented her orbital Defence Plan to her. It had actually been designed by Zim...but not the Zim everybody knew as a moron and a fool, the Zim Jana knew as her hero and emperor, her Tallest.

Ever since she had been sent back in time by Tallest Zim to avert the fall of the Irken Empire, she had been planning how to initiate that key change that would eliminate all hope that would eventually rally the galaxy to strike back at the Irken Empire. The human, Dib Membrane, his status as a martyr and the destruction of the Massive had been what had caused it all. She had planned to kill him and be done with it, but she knew she had to be far more careful, and avoid contact with the younger Zim-despite how she had been drawn to him at first glance.

She had to cause as little visible effect as possible. Zim would grow and become Tallest on his own, without her, she could accept that, but what if she just made his path more convenient and far from that interfering human? So she had contacted the Resisty-such a horrid name, but they played a big part in the defeat of the Irken Empire so she needed to know where they were...so she could _crush_ them after they broke their own teeth on the shield of the Empire she was working to save. With the Resisty out of the way in advance, something that would not be thought of as abnormal by the galaxy at large due to the fact that currently they were incompetent Jana would be one step closer to handing over the glorious Irken Empire over to her lord and master Zim!

After everything was set, after everything was done Jana would only have to hit the device on her wrist. It was her plan to return to the very second she had left. In the new timeline she would make sure that her younger self would go back in time and repeat her actions while guarded by the Temporal Neutralization Device that Jana herself wore at this moment. It protected her from the changes she would make-resulting in a grandfather paradox in the most likely case. It was what made her plan possible; she would be able to continue her life in the Irken Empire without fear of the universe snatching her out of existence. All she had to do was get back to the future and wait until the temporal anomalies faded and she was home free!

To help secure her victory, she had taken a leaf from her Tallest's book and made an army of Genetically Engineered Super Soldiers, codenamed GESS. They were Tallest Zim's ultimate Shock Troopers, a collection of DNA from many varying animals of Earth. Due to a lack of budget and resources she could only make a few hundred of them, and she had to send most of them out to patrol the forests of the island-she even loaned one or two hundred to the Resisty just to have some breathing space.

Zedia V was the staging ground for her plan alongside the two factions that had joined to create an Anti-Empire Coalition. The fools never realized that after all was done her GESS would wipe what was left of them out and she would eliminate the rest and delete all evidence of her involvement, leaving the way open for Zim when his time came. Then she would return victoriously to resume her life as a Shadow of the Tallest.

Several GESS were patrolling the ruins of the temple even now. Their bodies looked like a large gorilla with the skin of a rhinoceros in place of fur, large horns on their head capable of butchering any infantry soldier, paws of a lion, and what looked like bat wings placed right below the horns. They were adept trackers and even better killers, but the best part was that they were obedient without fault...to Jana that is.

"Ma'am!" A Vortian resistance member rushed out of the command post. "The Irken vessel has breached the orbital grid, it came down too far for more than one of our main guns to take a shot at it."

"What happened to the Anti Air Defence Drones I ordered to be deployed?" Jana demanded, rounding on the Vortian, who to his credit did not flinch.

"They're on the move, but that ship is coming down fast. We think he'll go for this outpost first, take down our grid so his main ship can land." The Vortian explained.

"Obviously, that is the strategy any soldier would use." Jana smirked. "But that is the beauty of it, he is totally predictable." The beauty of this grid was that command could be transferred to different outposts, so even if this 'Hunter Lok' did managed to get to the outpost and take over, Jana would transfer the command authorization codes to a different outpost so that when his ship tried to come down to assist him it would be blown out of the sky.

"Tell me," Jana sighed as she faced the ocean again. "How does he operate? This...Hunter Lok?"

"Lock what?" An Aenoran stuck her head out of the command post.

"What?" Jana looked at her.

"What are we locking?"

"Nothing, I was asking about the Hunter known as Lok-"

"Lock what?" A second Vortian asked.

The green eyed Irken Assassin growled. "I'm not locking anything! I'm talking about-" Jana paused as the first Vortian tapped her on the shoulder and handed her a data screen.

He whispered. "Don't bother trying to ask them, they never get it."

Confused, Jana looked over the screen. It was a profile on Hunter Lok...with the words right next to it 'Lock what?'

He was a former food service drone who had somehow managed to earn the blessings of Tallest Purple and formed some covert independent unit that would take jobs for the empire in return for payment. He was remarkably talented in hand to hand combat, the use of bladed weapons, guns, and had a rather interesting 'initiative' and 'creative combat style'. He was 4'8-rather pitiful compared to her, but he had an extensive record of successful bounties and assassinations...

And lookie here, according to a note in Personal Details, Lok has a temper problem concerning how people failed to grasp his name, often asking 'Lock what?' as her subordinates had. She smirked as a light came from the sky and landed on the island.

"Perfect," Jana snickered. "_Send out the GESS! Destroy the intruder!_"

Inside the command center, an operator sent a command to the GESS, who all reacted immediately and howled to the sky before charging off towards the forest. They barrelled through thick trees and crushed small animals afoot as dozens of them went out into the wilderness to eliminate Hunter Lok.

Xxx

Lok set his fighter down on a low cliff and cloaked it. He hopped off of the cliff and landed in a crouch. Taking off his helmet, he tossed it aside and drew his main pistol. With every step he took, he was on the lookout for any holes that might hide the deadly Giant Worms of Zedia V, which could swallow and entire frigate if the hole was big enough, but those were in the dessert.

He paused and set a small circular device on the ground and tapped a button on his Ascension Gauntlet. The device came to life, floating over the ground. It projected a life sized hologram of Loe ,sitting in Lok's chair on the Omni-Hunter.

"Yo Chief, how was the landing?" Loe asked.

"Uneventful after that first missile." Lok replied, holstering his pistol. "But I don't want to go in blind, they know I'm alive out here, and they'll find my ship soon enough if they've got trackers."

"I'll pull up a list of your targets for you, hold still," Loe tapped in a command into a control panel built on one of the chair's arm rests. "The drone needs to confirm your retinal data."

The hologram vanished and floated up to his left eye, the flat side aimed at it. The lens on top slowly changed to a dull red, and then faded back to black. The drone took its original position.

"Retinal data confirmed," An automated, filtered voice announced, and Loe reappeared, along with a picture of his first target. It was a tall, slender female Irken in a black body suit that showed off every part of her lovely shape. For a moment, while the image was still loading Lok feared he was being sent after Skullene, who was about the biggest bad ass and meanest woman out there. But then he saw the cloak, the lack of bullet proof and energy resistant armour plating, and the green eyes.

"Irken Jana, unknown Identification, not recorded in any up to date archives." He recited the data being shown to him. "Shows training exceeding regular elite forces and invader training, utilizes a sword made of plasma that is controlled by a magnetic field that keeps it in a perfect shape yet doesn't interfere with its ability to cause massive amounts of damage to both technology and organics. Also utilizes a series of unorthodox equipment not used by regular or elite soldiers."

He scrolled further down on the screen. "Highly dangerous, accompanied by army of genetically engineered specimens acting as heavy infantry shock troopers, recommend deployment of...Suicide Specialists." That was another way to describe the IDIOTs.

"She's got a Splatter Kill Order on her, fifty million dead." Loe said.

A Splatter Kill, perfect, he could blow her up and as long as it left a lasting impression he'd get paid, and for every successful kill his optics recorded he'd get an extra fifty thousand. She must have pissed somebody off to get a bounty this bad.

"And the next one is even worse." Loe shuddered and opened the second profile. "Fourth Ranked in the hierarchy of height, Eder." It showed an Irken who must have been only mere inches shorter than Red and Purple. He had a slender yet obviously stronger build than the Tallests, and was clad in an all black uniform derived from his old Imperial Special Division uniform. His eyes were blood red, and his skin a special, darker shade of green, like an emerald. "This guy's a bad ass, a kick ass, an ass kicker, an assassin, an assassin killer, and all sorts of asses put into one. He's conducted genetic and technological development projects and theoretical application of inactive chromosomes in the Irken genome. He supposedly had a few breakthroughs, but aside from his last success: correcting the cloaking device on our MegaDoomers he isn't too well liked."

"Highly intelligent and a lethal soldier," Lok read the data. "This guy's a scientist, a doctor, an assassin, and a commando all rolled into one?"

"He also worked in Project Renaissance with Miyuki," Loe added. "This bad boy might hold the secret to Irken Fertility. The Resisty and a few rebellious Irken factions have bounties on him, all alive for a few million in each one. But the empire has a Dark Kill on him for over seventy five million."

Dark Kill, quick and without messing around, any deviation from the mission resulted in ten thousand monies being fined from the bounty for every minute lost, and an extra million for each non-essential kill. Lok would have to be stealthy to get to that guy. Whoever assigned it really wanted Eder dead as soon as possible.

"The guy's got training like every weapon from Irk, Vort, Venira, Aenora, Plobeki, Azura, Kront, and a dozen other worlds!" Loe gulped. "And he supposedly even fought off Invaders Apocalyptic and Dest without any trouble. Dude I think we ought to just get the other two and bug out."

"Read the third one to me," Lok said tersely, not even acknowledge the warning.

"Alright Lok, your funeral," Loe groaned, exasperated as he opened the third file. "This last one doesn't seem too bad. Some Irken named Leka, and Red put one big ass bounty of a hundred million on her for attempted assassination."

"Any background info?"

"Not a lot, but it looks like that she was in Invader Training when she was charged with murder for two girls, and then she killed a guard to escape jail, and between then and attempting to kill Tallest Red she killed a few others." Loe sighed in relief. "She's currently with a group of mercenaries she hired to guard her from retaliation. They're small but professional, and the Resisty of all people are reinforcing every position."

"Well then, looks like I have a long day ahead of me," Lok knelt and brought out his shotgun. He jacked the first shell into the firing chamber with a satisfying _chck-chik_ and a hum as the onboard energy cell charged the shell. "Can you locate any of my targets specifically?"

"Well, there are three main bases on the continent and a few smaller ones." Loe displayed a map. "You're on this island here." A Purple dot appeared on a small island off the coast of the continent. The map zoomed in on the island. "And there is a base with what looks like a few aircraft right here." A green dot appeared on the east coast. "It's some old ruins configured for defence, and there are a lot of bio signatures around it. Also, I think I caught a glimpse of Target Number One there."

"Great, I face the Splatter Kill who has plasma swords." Lok stood up. "Well then, time to get to work."

He buttoned his trench coat closed above the waist to keep it from catching on anything, and activated the recently applied ocular implants he had bought using some recent payments. They helped to clear his view of the dark forest.

"Alright, visual established." Loe confirmed. "I'm linked to your PAK's sensors now, so- whoa boy! Lok, I have three contacts closing in on you!"

"I hear them," Lok whispered as something came crashing through the trees. There was a feral howl, followed by the shattering of wood as trees collapsed.

A large, hideous beast leaped out of the darkness, every foot step making the ground shake. The GESS locked onto Lok before the bounty hunter could even comprehend just what he was staring at. The implants Jana had added to the GESS scanned Lok and generated data based off his armaments and appearance.

**Subject: Target Alpha, Bounty Hunter Lok.**

**Hostile identified.**

**Priority: ENGAGE AND DESTROY.**

**Secondary: Alert nearby GESS Units.**

The GESS reared its head back and sent out a shriek that was heard all over the island. Lok struggled not to fall to his knees as his audio receptors were assaulted by the noise. In the end he deactivated his antennae's receptors manually-after having them cut off repeatedly he had managed to get synthetic implants added to them to allow him to control his own hearing for moments like this.

Raising his shotgun, he squeezed the trigger, As soon as the shell began to exit the barrel; a layer of powerful and highly concentrated plasma surrounded it. The shell, sending out a controlled magnetic field, carried the plasma with it. It came out as a bright globule of green energy that took barely the blink of an eye to hit the GESS right in the middle of its upper body.

The result was precisely what Lok expected it to be: the GESS was blown in half. The top half was mostly incinerated with exception of the arms, most of the shoulders, neck and head. Blood splattered the clearing, and silence was restored.

Straightening up, Lok reactivated his antennae and grimaced. He hissed in one of the many languages he had acquired during his centuries as a bounty hunter of the Tallests. "_Taulen fodea frek." _**(1)**

Disgusting Little Freak.

Xxx

"Ma'am, GESS 740 has gone off line." An operator reported to Jana over the radio as she paced back and forth on the roof.

"What? Where was it?" Jana demanded.

"In Grid 14 by 12, other units are rerouting to investigate."

"Have any units not near that area refocus around the base," Jana ordered. "This..._Lak_ is better than I thought."

"Aye-aye ma'am." The generic little worker replied and went back to work.

The Shadow eased herself onto the edge of the temple's roof and took off her hood, letting her antennae extend to their full length. Her left hand remained where a hilt shaped device was attached to her belt, tapping the bottom of it with one finger repeatedly. The temple ruins were now mostly empty except for several Resisty guards and Mercenaries.

"Jana, report," There was the voice of possibly the deadliest Irken on this rock besides herself: Eder.

He perhaps had earned just a little respect from her during her days in the Shadow. Eder had been one of the many famous Irkens in history who Tallest Zim had felt worthy enough to be mentioned...in how he conquered them for defying him. To Eder's credit, he had never begged or degraded himself when Zim came for him, and he put up a great and long fight, and even wiped out millions of Irken's soldiers in the single battle that had taken place on this very planet.

Eder had been developing legions upon legions of monsters ranging from beats that made the GESS look tame and towered as high as sky scrapers to powerful and efficient cyborg soldiers or even automated tanks and ships that would seek out and destroy entire armies for him. Zim had led Admiral Envon of the Armada and General Grash of the Irken Army, combining the best of the old Irken Empire into one invasion force.

It had mostly been to thin the ranks, and eliminate Grash and/or Envon. Grash had always been a little too much of a smart ass for his own good, but Envon at least knew to obey the Tallest without question, so in the end after Grash and his five million loyal soldiers all but annihilated Eder's army-costing the life of Grash and all but several hundred troops Envon and what was left of his fleet gladly paved a way for Zim and his Shadows, who acted as escorts for him.

Jana had been there when Zim and Envon had entered the temple Eder had converted into a citadel. Eder had almost gotten the better of them, and killed four Shadows, but he fell at Zim's hands, impaled with his own four spider legs after Zim tore them off one by one during the fight.

It was over after Eder rejected Zim's offer of allowing Eder to serve the empire by creating more armies of expendable monsters for it, under supervision of course. Eder chose death, and attacked Zim again, causing the four other Shadows to cut Eder down-his precise wish, he died with a smile on his face of course.

It was rather disturbing to see him alive and...several centuries younger. If he hadn't betrayed Zim, they would have practically been twins with how ruthless they both were. So for that ,he managed to afford to have Jana speak to him as though he were an actual equal.

"Yes?"

"I've just received the reports concerning our guest, Hunter Lok." Eder sounded as though they were having a conversation over lunch instead of discussing the lethal assassin being sent after them. "I thought I'd call and just let you know...he's not as powerful as his report makes him look."

"How so?" Jana got to her feet.

"He's home schooled himself in how to fight and operates on blind luck and his analyst to help him out." Eder explained. "He's smarter than the average little drone you'll find, but aside from that nothing extraordinary. Get him in a one on one fight and take away his fancy weapons and you'll have him in the palm of your hand."

"I see...thank you," Jana said with a hint of respect. "I felt I had cause for some concern until now."

"Ma'am! Four more units went off line!"

"...you're certain he is not a threat? He's taken out five of my units you know."

"Your 'units' are bumbling animals born in tubes, not trained soldiers." Eder replied scathingly. "I have seen trained soldiers, I have trained assassins, and I have worked with Bounty Hunters, he is not any of them."

"We shall see." Jana cut the link.

"Two more units are down!"

Perhaps a more direct approach would be necessary.

Xxx

Lok knelt and began to insert shells into the shotgun.

_Click-chik_

_Click-chik_

_Click-chik_

Finally he had a full eight shells loaded and ready to fire; he pulled the hand grip back and ejected the last empty casing from his eight round fired. The casing was super heated and burning the grass around it. Bringing the weapon up, Lok spun as another GESS attacked, this time being smarter than the rest of its kind. It was a variant built more for jumping rather than breaking. The GESS design originally made by Zim had been for storming cities and ripping apart defences, but for defending the jungle stronghold Jana had made some small modifications to it for convenience's sake.

This GESS was slimmer, more like a chimpanzee instead of a gorilla, and was leaping from the branches above. It swung itself down with a high pitched shriek, and slammed into Lok before he could lock on and fire. For any normal Irken that would be the end a few seconds later, but Lok had managed to grab his knife as the GESS came down on top of him. They rolled, and he sank the weapon into its flesh, right up to the hilt.

Recoiling with a knife stuck in its stomach, the GESS was too distracted to notice Lok whip out one of his blasters and fired once, twice, three times. The pistol was weaker than the shotgun, so it did not immediately kill the GESS. As its upper body's flesh began to slowly dissolve, the GESS howled in pain, and made to lunge at Lok, who put two more shots into it. The GESS fell like a rag doll and went silent as its lower jaw was fused to its upper jaw by his fourth shot.

Sliding the blaster into its original position, Lok grabbed his shotgun and hissed. "_Sucla voya, lapsae." _**(2)**

"_Hab eret keth edea consa,_" **(3) **A lithe voice whispered into his antennae in the same dialect he was using. "_Pau-ka Intera._" **(4)**

Spinning around, he snapped one spider leg out and swung it in an arch at whatever adversary had identified him by his profession as a killer. The metal appendage hit nothing, but the clearing-littered with the bodies of a half dozen GESS was no longer silent. A light laughter made Lok spin and fired his shotgun at a tree, incinerating what wasn't scattered across the clearing by the explosion.

"So," Lok swallowed. "These are the uh...genetic mutant infantry units I heard about?" After no response he pressed on with his queries. "They look impressive! But the slob who designed them sure is lacking in intelligence if he thought these could win a straight up war."

A snarl alerted him to his target's location. He spun, and something flashed to life with a _hiss_. A green light came at Lok, who just barely ducked under it and rolled to the side, bringing his shotgun up and confronting a tall, green eyed Irken. Her stunning figure was outlined by a black battle suit, and a black, flowing cloak hang behind her. But the plasma sword in her hands illuminated a snarling, enraged face.

"You dare insult my master's ingenious plan?" She snarled. "Pathetic dog of the Empire, you shall de as slowly as your worthless leaders!"

"Heh, for a second I was worried you were one of my evil-exes come back to haunt me." Lok swallowed again, eyeing the menacing plasma blade as he kept his shotgun aimed at her. "You'd be Jana, correct?"

"Do not say my name; you have not earned the honour." Jana levelled the plasma sword at the shorter, purple eyed bounty hunter.

"Real nice," Lok scowled. "Well I suppose I need no introduction then-"

She swung, aiming to take his head off with a swing from the left. He ducked under it and fired his shotgun, but the shot flew right by her and blew a hole in a boulder. She swung down, and he allowed himself to collapse to one knee, rolling out from under the blade and came up loading the next shell. As Jana spun to face him, he fired again. She spun aside, and a trace amount of plasma scorched her cloak's edge. She ended her pirouette and jabbed her sword down, angling the tip of the blade to go between Lok's arms and then she would swing up and cut off his right wrist, which held the handle, and then cut the shotgun itself in half.

But no sooner than her blade passed between the loop that his arms and the gun formed did he lurch into her. Her arm went through up to her elbow, and she fell on her back with Lok on top. He squeezed his right arm to his chest to keep her from pulling her sword arm free. He tilted his head back, and then slammed it into Jana's face. She roared in frustration, and slammed her right knee up between Lok's legs.

The bounty hunter groaned in pain and rolled off, barely clutching onto his shotgun. He got up, one hand clutching the impact area. "So unfair!"

"Never let down your guard, Hunter!" Jana snarled, her plasma sword hissing to life as she flung it at him. Lok panicked and brought out all four of his PAK legs, forming an energy shield with them. In a flash of light the sword bounced off of it and went spinning into the air.

Jana flipped backwards onto her feet and raised her right hand. There was a device attached to her wrist that launched a ball of metallic wires and heavy spheres that unfolded into a net that wrapped around Lok, making him fall to the ground. There was a single wire attaching the net to Jana's wrist, and the moment she tapped a button on the launcher it sent an electric current right to Lok, shocking him and making him scream and writhe.

His shotgun went off, and a single shot flew out of the net and hit a tree next to Jana. It clipped the trunk, and made it collapse, landing behind her but causing branches to hit and cover her. She yelped in pain, and accidently released the electric charge key.

Lok took advantage of this activated his PAK legs. They cut through the net easily and freed him. Standing up, he pulled the hand grip on the weapon back and watched as the highly heated slug casing popped out of the barrel and fell among the brambles. He fired once into the mass of leaves, and for good measure he took out a small grenade.

He confirmed that it was a White Phosphorous grenade before he activated it. In five seconds it would release a large amount of white phosphor from the Sub-Space containment cell within it.

Tossing the sphere in, he pulled the shotgun's hand grip back and took aim in case Jana came charging out. The grenade exploded, and the white phosphorous set everything in five feet on fire instantly, and when the white phosphorous launched into the air came down Lok had to back up a few feet to avoid being caught up in it.

He looked on smugly at the raging inferno. "Sucks to be you, Jana."

He tapped his right gauntlet. "Loe, Target One is confirmed KIA-"

_Hiss!_

Lok's reflexes took over, and he spun, spinning the shotgun in his grasp and swinging the back end of it. It struck something, and the air shimmered as a female voice cried out in pain. Jana shimmered into existence, nursing a bruise on her face with one hand and holding her plasma sword in the other. Moments later her other plasma sword came down next to Lok.

As Jana charged, Lok raised his shotgun and fired. Jana ducked, throwing herself onto the ground so the shell flew over her. She didn't even take the blink of an eye to get to her feet, but Lok matched her speed and fired. She leaped into the air by the time he pulled the trigger and he blew a crater into the ground where she had been.

He fired up at her where she pulled herself up onto a tree. She threw herself off as the tree exploded, and landed on the ground, hard. As she began to get up, Lok aimed right at her and grinned. "Game over, bitch!"

_Click_

Lok blinked and looked at the ammo meter on the shotgun.

Empty.

"Florp!" Lok squeaked, knowing he would never get a single shell reloaded before Jana, who was charging at him again managed to get close enough to kill him.

"Enough of this playing!" Jana smirked.

Lok tossed his shotgun aside and reached for the first thing he could think of...the discarded plasma sword. He activated it, and braced it against Jana's. The two magnetic fields caused the blades to repel one another, resulting in a standoff.

"You're a lot more trouble than Eder gives you credit for." Jana hissed in his face.

"Aw what, did he think the little bounty hunter wasn't worth his time?" Lok growled back at her.

"Actually, he couldn't even tell me your name." Jana grinned. "What was it again, Lik?"

"Lok!" Lok growled.

She had stepped onto forbidden territory right there. NOBODY ever made fun of Lok's name.

"Lock _what?_" Jana taunted him, knowing it would rile him up, just what she wanted.

"My. Name. Is." Lok shoved her back. "LOK!" He charged, and brought his sword down.

Jana parried and brought her right leg up to waist level. She snapped her foot out and caught him in the stomach. He stumbled back and managed to push aside a jab from Jana. He pivoted on his left foot as he let the momentum from Jana's attack carry her further. He spun a full 360 degrees, bringing the sword up over his head and swinging it down, planning to catch her on the neck and decapitate her.

But she had predicted this and stopped, bracing her sword over her head. She then slammed into him. He let her do this, and when he fell to the ground he dragged her with him, braced his feet again her stomach, and rolled backwards, sending her over and off of him. They rolled to their feet at the same time.

Jana swung upwards to the left and Lok batted the slash aside. He stabbed towards her chest, but she brought her sword up again and with a savage swing bashed his own blade off to the right. Lok backed u two steps, out of range of her next slash and swung down at her head. She side stepped, and caught his next slash, but he did not put all of his strength into it and managed to pull his blade back after it slammed into her own for a jab that went past her blade.

She felt a brief stinging pain and gasped. She slammed her right knee into his stomach, and he replied by bringing the handle of his sword into her own gut. They recovered, and Lok swung down at her head again. She braced her blade against his, and they remained there, struggling with one another.

"Looks like he was wrong." Jana whispered.

"Aw don't worry, we all get a few boo-boos in a fight." Lok teased her.

Jana had received a thin burn wound on her right cheek from Lok's jab. It was cauterized by the heat of the plasma sword.

"It's been a while since anybody's lasted this long in a blade fight with me, much less cut me with my own blade." Jana said with a frown on her face. "I'll make the best of it."

"Love you too sexy." Lok winked.

Jana replied with a snap kick to his groin.

"Gah!" He groaned as she leaped away. "What is with you women and going for my _schlorvik?_" **(5)**

The Bounty Hunter recovered and got into a defensive stance.

"Well, either she brought swords to a gun fight." Lok looked to where his shotgun lay. He moved over to it, scanning the clearing for Jana as he picked it up and hung it on his back. "Or worst case scenario: even worse, I'm the moron who brought the guns to a sword fight."

Xxx

End of Part One

At the most this might be five chapters or so, and luckily it'll be mostly one on one fighting so I'll get it done rather quickly compared to others.

**1-**Taulen (Tuh-ow-lenn) fodea (foe-day-uh) frek (fur-eck)- Disgusting Little Freak

**2-**Sucla (S-ue-kuh-leh) Voya (V-oy-ah) Lapsae (Lap-say)-Burn you mistake.

**3- **Ha beret (err-ett) keth (k-eth) edea (edd-ee-ah) consa (cone-sah)-I had the same plan in mind

**4- **Pau-ka (Pow-kuh) Intera (Inn-terr-uh)-Little assassin

**5-** Schlorvik (Sh-lor-vick)- My own term for the male Irken's groin.


	2. Chapter 2

Lok's Hunt

Jana is property of Zim'sMostLoyalServant, as are the GESS.

I own nothing except my OCs.

And Drosco is property of one BloddyRosePettles from DeviantArt, and will be playing a bigger part in this later.

Xxx

"_Hey there sexy." An Irken sat down next to Lok at the bar._

_Lok looked up from his drink, expecting some dancer or pleasure drone looking for some monies. But instead he saw a male Irken, taller than him. His eyes were bright red, and his antennae went straight back and up, but then were tipped with segments that had exotic curves on the top side, and ended in arrows on the bottom side. He wore a pair of dark knee high boots, one with a purple line ending with an arrow on the foot and the other with a matching red one. He wore a pair of matching black short shorts with the same lines going up the legs and to his waist, red on the left and purple on the right._

_His upper body was naked except for a leather jacket with the same pattern of red and purple. A red line tipped with a upwards arrow was on the right side while purple stripes covered the right sleeve, and a purple line with a downwards arrow was on the left side and red stripes on the sleeve._

_He had matching black tattoos on his face. A line with an arrow on the bottom went over his right eye while a line with an arrow on the top went over his left eye._

_His body was slim yet well developed, with visible muscle under the leather clothing. His handsome face bore a charming smile._

_Lok had chosen to forgo his usual attire of black pants, a purple invader shirt and his trench coat. He wore the same knee high boots and pants, but he wore a sleeveless purple shirt that hugged his upper body, and a pair of fingerless gloves. The attire did little to hide the signs of his years of strict exercise and training. But it also showed the remnants of some old scars and other battle wounds on his arms and shoulders. It was a more casual form of his outfit. He had a small reserve blaster with a fifteen shot charge hidden in one boot, and a small push knife in the other._

"_You look..." The Irken began._

"_New?" Lok ventured a guess._

"_Confident." The Irken corrected him. "Most newcomers look nervous when they come in here." He gestured to the rest of the club, which was filled with aliens of all kinds. Many were dancing; others were lounging in the corners or on the upper mezzanine of the club's main area. Some were like Lok, drinking their hearts out-and in the case of some Irkens unable to due to PAKs filtering out the alcohol. "But you've never been here, yet you just about snapped the bouncer's hand off when he tried to lord his height over you and make you take his position for him."_

"_You saw that?" Lok gulped down the last of his drink. "Guess I need to be less noticeable."_

"_It doesn't help to be unnoticed," The Irken ordered a drink. "Why hide yourself? You don't look like you have anything to be scared of."_

"_Got plenty to run from though," Lok sighed._

"_Bad memories?" The Irken had sincere concern in his gaze and voice._

"_Not exactly things I cry over," Lok shrugged. "But they sure as hell make my life hard when they catch up to me."_

"_Well, we have all night if you feel like sharing." The Irken offered. "Name's Drosco, Drosco Pocrule."_

"_Lok," Lok muttered back to Drosco. "Hunter Lok."_

_Lok and the Irken exchanged several topics of conversation. Lok described his Army of Evil Exes serving under Captain Dav, his crime boss partner Skloo and his threats, his lousy employment conditions to Red and Purple, and the crap he had to handle for the 'Almighty Brattiest' who ruled the Irken Empire. Drosco shared his own story; he was a mechanic, he specialized in robotics, and loved making them look like animals or adding surprises to them._

_A few more drinks and Drosco was leaning against the taller Irken, his eyes focused on the half filled glass before him. One finger traced the edges of the glass. "And so here I am, drinking til my florping PAK filters burn out and praying to the gods they do before they give me a tab."_

_Drosco wrapped a comforting arm around Lok's shoulders. "They really do make your life a living hell for you."_

"_I know," Lok sniffed. "And I got myself into it. I hated being some stupid food drone so much I-I just wanted something more important. So I made Purple give me a 'special job' serving the tallest." Lok squeezed his eyes shut. "I fucking hate it all."_

"_What about those two you say you work with?" Drosco asked. "Loe and Kay?"_

"_Loe's in it for the money and I took Kay in because it was that or let her die." Lok frowned. "Greed and a guilty conscience made me run into them. Nothing more...I don't care for them."_

"_No, you just try not to." Drosco whispered. "I've seen your type before Lok."_

"_Cold, gutless, all but neutered?" Lok scoffed. "Plenty of those in this shit hole of a galaxy." Regardless of his cruel worlds, he moved closer to the taller Irken._

"_No Lok." Drosco stroked Lok's antennae. "Hurt, badly hurt, but not bad."_

_Lok's eyes snapped open as he realized the position they were in. But most of the club was either dancing or dead drunk so nobody cared. Drosco brought an arm around Lok and held him closer, rubbing his back. Lok relaxed his breathing, shut his eye, and snuggled closer to the taller Irken's chest._

"_Hurt," Drosco repeated, one hand caressing Lok's antennae. "And in need of a little help."_

Xxx

Lok's eyes snapped open. He kept himself from crying out in pain from the wound in his shoulder. He placed one hand on it and took a moment to confirm he was safe. He scanned the small stone room he had hidden in from Jana. His weapons, including the plasma sword Jana stole from him lay next to him along with his shirt and coat. His shoulder had bandages applied to the wound as it slowly knitted itself back together.

He pulled his shirt on over it, and then his trench coat. He began to secure his weapons back into their original positions.

_Jana circled around Lok, sword bared and crouched like a wolf ready to spring. Lok, his snarling face illuminated by the glow of his stolen sword matched her step for step. When she tried to changed direction, he moved with her. When she swung, he dodged or countered, and when Lok attacked he was fierce._

_This was not some defective little failure like Eder had claimed. He was too professional, too trained for that._

_But he made a few noticeable slip ups. He did not look at the long term effect of his attacks and choices of defence. He did not look past the moment his blade collided with her own, possibly making t up as he went along._

_And this was what allowed Jana to draw second blood. He swung down, but she forced her blade up. In a clash of sparks the magnetic shields repelled each other, and Lok's arms went up. Jana swung at him, aiming to bisect him at the waist. He managed to bring his sword down in an arch and catch it on the flat side of his own glowing energy blade, forced her blade up over his head and swung harshly, making Jana lose her balance as the momentum carried her to her right._

_But she regained balance faster than Lok, and braced her right foot, swung her left foot up, and slammed her heel into his gut. The force of the blow knocked the breath out of the bounty hunter, allowing Jana to stand up and aim the tip of her blade at his chest. She would impale him, and bring her blade out through his PAK, ending the fight._

_Lok lurched to his left and the blade passed through his shoulder. He screamed, and on instinct his PAK legs came up and jammed into Jana. Her body suit was able to blunt their tips, but she was sent tumbling back with her blade. The wound was cauterized instantly by the plasma blade, so Lok did not waste time examining it. He fired his pistol in one hand as he fled, searching for a safe place to tend to his wounds._

Lok loaded his shotgun, and counted how many shells he had left.

Twenty four more, he had to be more careful with his ammunition from now on. The shells were expensive to make, and until the anti-orbital gun was down the Omni-Hunter would be unable to supply him with any more...if they still had any left that is. Every shell cost over five hundred monies to make, and here Lok had been shooting them off like a sale at a candy store. So _stupid_!

"_SO STUPID!" The instructor shouted at Lok, who barely stood above two feet at this point in the later half of his Smeethood. "Do NOT go firing off your best weapon right off the bat! Damn it Irken Lok you need to preserve your heavy ammunition!"_

"_Lock what?" Another smeet giggled, and received a slap to the head by the other trainer._

"_Don't you get smart with us," Lieutenant Skullene snapped. "Lok's still hit more than any of you."_

"_Lock what-"_

"_Ask me that ONE MORE TIME and you'll be Lok's next target!" The male instructor, known at the time as Commander Dev shouted. "Now, in this next live fire course, you must preserve heavier ammo for the heavier targets, and even then be stingy with it, treat it like it's the last of your monies that you gotta spend carefully to avoid starving. In campaigns we have ships to drop you extra ammo, but between drops you must not let yourself be left defenceless! Now Lok, show them by using your carbine."_

"_Yes sir!" Lok picked up his Precision Plasma Projector Seven carbine. It held charges of highly concentrated shots of plasma energy that were better for infantry rather than blowing apart bigger targets like the shotgun Lok had hanging on his back._

_Lok proceeded into the course, a generic hall way. Holograms of soldiers wearing silver armour and black face plates popped up, carrying PPP-7s of their own. Lok side stepped as the first popped up and quickly put a shot through its chest. As the next appeared he knelt and fired, blowing through its head. The third appeared, and Lok moved to the right, getting upright and firing twice._

_He continued through the hallway like this, avoiding getting a single 'scratch' on him. If he took too long to hit a hologram and the computer determined that the soldier would have made a successful hit on Lok, that was a hit, meaning Lok failed. But the purple eyed smeet came out of the hall way, ejecting the empty plasma cartridge in the carbine and sliding it into his combat harness in favour of one of the other nine fully charged cartridges._

_Every weapon the smeets had in their possession had a safety limit placed upon their plasma output capacity so that nobody suffered friendly fire. Only the shotguns, which launched their high energy explosive shells had no safeties on them, and they were meant to be used in solo training sessions._

_And Lok found the perfect chance to use it when something blocked him in the second hallway. It was not a hologram, but a large training robot. It began to lock onto him with its shoulder mounted cannons as it hovered over him. Lok rolled to the right to avoid the initial salvo, and set his carbine down next to him in favour of the shotgun. In what would take one to blink, the smeet had successfully rolled, brought his shotgun up, and stood up._

_He squeezed the trigger, and the robot was sent flying down the hall when the shell hit its shields. Lok slid the second shell in and was tempted to fire again, but remembered his instructors' words. He hang the shotgun on his back and picked up his carbine. He took aim and fired once, twice, three times! The shielding on the robot fell, weakened from the explosive plasma shell, and two shots pierced the robot's armour. It fell, sparking and jerking._

"_Alright, that is what I'm talking about!" Dev declared over the intercom. "Now you just have to remember to stay focused in the real fight and you'll be okay. Remember that, Lok? Stay focused. Stay-"_

"Focused," Lok whispered as he came out of the small compartment built into the side of one of the many stone temples.

He hang the shotgun on his back, and kept the plasma sword in his belt-it was a rather handy weapon that he would hold on to in the future. His eyes rested upon his next addition to his arsenal.

The temples, though abandoned still were visited by Zedia V's native species from time to time. They only had one city, built on the other side of the planet, and despite having space travel chose to hang on to older forms of weaponry to mix with direct energy weapons. Some mercenaries or criminals hid n these ruins from time to time, most likely driven out by Jana and her GESS army.

But one of them had left a mace lying around, leaning against a wall next to the remains of what had been a camp site for three or four aliens, who were not bone fragments and chunks of raw meat somewhere else most likely. He picked the mace up and gave it an experimental swing. He twisted and spun, improvising in his 'Shadow Swinging' until he was satisfied with the balance of the weapon. The head had a single spike on the circumference of the cylinder shaped head, every forty five degrees along the surface.

"Perfect."

"_Irken Lok! Recite to me your standing orders when stranded and separated from all irken units?" Dev barked. "And just since I like you so much, let's assume you have no weaponry and the only weapons around aren't your run of the mill fancy light shows and your PAK's on board weapons system is malfunctioning. What do you do in this scenario?"_

"_Sir!" Lok stood up. "Objective of an Irken stranded in enemy territory with no weaponry to defend one's self must begin by acquiring suitable weapons from surrounding environment. Recommended options are scavenging for materials for rudimentary weapons or acquire weapons from hostile soldiers, preferably less noticeable than a laser gun."_

"_Correct! Give us an example!" Skullene demanded as she helped a nearby Smeet steady his aim._

"_Knives!" Lok ducked under a swing from Dev, who was wielding a metal training staff. "Clubs!" He raised the metal shield attached to his left arm and sent the staff glancing off of it. "Anything generally useful for exterminating the average infantryman!"_

"_And if there are no infantry? If you only have armoured opponents?" Dev continued._

"_Examine armoured hostiles for weaknesses. If one is found, act on it. If one is not found, retreat to safe area and avoid detection!" Lok replied._

"_Perfect! And watch your footing!" Dev swept Lok's feet out from under him with the staff. "On your feet Irken Lok, we're not done here!"_

"I'm not done with you yet, small one!" Jana's voice reverberated throughout the small city. "Come out come out wherever you are!"

Lok crept under the shadows of one structure as the clouds moved aside to let the moon light illuminate the city in a soft silver light. He took a quick glance around, and then leaned against the wall, using the folds of his trench coat to hide the mace while his other hand pulled out the handle of the plasma sword.

It hissed to life in a flash of green energy. Lok whistled as it illuminated the entire street. "Come out come out wherever you are, bitch."

"You know, where I come from ladies don't appreciate that tone." Lok looked up and saw Jana perched on the ledge above him, her sword singing to life.

"Where I come from, we have actual ladies." Lok smiled pleasantly.

Jana frowned. "I've had about enough of that big mouth of yours." She leaped down, landing in front of him and lunged.

"Really?" Lok tensed as she reared her sword arm back. "Most people find me quite CHARMING!" He swung the mace out from behind him.

Score! It hit Jana right across the face, splattering some blood from her mouth on the ground and knocking her off her feet. She landed on her side, and shakily climbed to her feet. Lok tossed the mace-stained with Jana's blood aside. He had torn a hole in her left cheek with the spikes on the mace, marring her beauty. But honestly, he didn't really give a florp.

He raised his sword. "Not looking so hot there, want a break?"

Jana snarled and brought her sword up. She swung downwards with both hands, but Lok ducked under it. She brought her sword up in a wild swing with her right hand, twisting her hips to give it more speed and force. Lok parried, gripping his sword with both hands and angling the blade downwards so it kept Jana from cleaving through the right side of his waist. He pushed her blade back and upwards, forcing it to go over him in an arch. He then pushed it down, and as Jana struggled against him he lurched forward and slammed his right shoulder into her ribs.

She backed off, wincing as she fell to one knee. Lok held up the plasma sword...which sputtered and faded. He looked at it, his optics giving him a brief scan to show it had temporarily deactivated due to a failure in the magnetic field. Knowing that he had little time before Jana got up, Lok rushed her, and rolled sideways over her exposed back when she sent a clumsy swing at his feet. He landed in a crouch on her opposite side, and slammed his elbow into the side of her face just as she looked up.

Jana groaned in pain, but caught his next attack with her bicep. She then slammed the hilt of her plasma sword across Lok's face, making him roll onto his front. She stood up and jammed her blade down, but Lok rolled away from it and onto his back. She jerked the blade back up just as Lok managed to get his sword to activate again. Jana swung down, but Lok braced one foot to her stomach and his blade to hers, and shoved her so hard she tripped, but as usual she moved with the force of his blow and used it to drop, roll backwards over one shoulder and finish up by ending the move on her feet.

They wasted no time, their blades clashing a split second later. Lok leaped up and swung a devastating slash down at Jana, who was hard pressed not to drop her sword from the force of the attack. "For such a small Irken, you sure are strong _Lak!_"

"MY NAME IS _LOK!_" Lok roared, jabbing at her chest.

She twisted out of the way, and he came after her with another powerful downwards blow she leaped back to avoid. He gripped the plasma sword with both of his hands, swinging once across his upper body to the right and leaving a faint cut across the front of Jana's suit at the stomach. He then bent his wrists and changed the sword's angle so the tip was aimed at Jana. He lunged forward, his blade aimed at her throat.

Bracing her blade against his own, Jana held the bounty hunter back by inches. They pressed against one another, teeth clenching to the point of nearly shattering in their mouths.

But then a GESS howled and leaped down from the top of the structure.

"Damn!" Lok shoved off, and the GESS landed between them.

Not to be deterred, Jana darted around the GESS as it swung one arm at Lok, who side stepped the fist and vaulted over the arm to meet with Jana. She swung upwards to the left, but he backed up into the retracting arm. She sliced down, and Lok lurched to the right, allowing her to cut off the hand of the GESS. It howled in agony, which only fuelled its blood lust.

Jana kept after Lok, disregarding the state of the GESS which had arrived to help her. Lok ducked under a slash and parried another. He then side stepped a stab and sliced at her arms, but she pulled back and he cut into the GESS's stomach as it flailed its limbs around, trying to squash both of them this time!

It became a dance of death as the two Irken fighters darted around the GESS, trying to get at one another instead of the unfortunate beast. Soon, Lok grew sick of its interference and swung at its left leg as he passed, cleaving through flesh and bone. It screeched to the heavens, and began to topple over. Jana slid to a stop in time to avoid being crushed under its massive weight.

Scrambling over it, Lok jabbed at her again. She twisted out of the range of his blade and swung at his throat. He backed up two steps and then parried a second slash from her. He kept his stance.

She rolled forwards, going under the blade as he swung it again. She then spun and slashed as he managed to turn. She hit the base of his plasma sword where the blade sprang from, and the hilt exploded into shards, scarring both Lok's hand and causing some small pieces to dig into the right side of Jana's face. She knew they would force themselves out, for now she focused on her now defenceless opponent.

Moving in for the finishing blow, she brought her sword up, hopping off of the ground with it and letting her initial velocity carry her towards Lok. She swung her sword down. But he ducked aside, losing the tip of his trench coat to the blade of plasma. He then bent to the left, tipping his weight as he brought his right leg up. His knee collided with Jana's jaw.

"_Never use the same strategy over and over!" Dev barked. "Think outside the box!"_

Jana spun, her blade cutting a trail in the darkness. Lok barely avoided losing his right arm at the shoulder from that attack. A moment later she pivoted on her right foot, and before Lok knew it the heel of her left foot hit him in the side of the face so hard he was seeing stars, birds, and coo-coo clocks!

Jana never gave him the chance to recover. She shoved him away, and he toppled over an edge.

_Thud!_

He ended up falling off of the low ledge they had fought on and fell onto the main street of the city about five feet below. He opened one eye and looked up. Jana glared down at him, her sword illuminating the entire battle field.

Lok reached for something in his belt. Jana leapt, sword held over her head, both hand gripping it in a reverse grip.

Lok swung one hand up, revealing a small grenade held in the palm of his hand. He triggered it, and looked away, shutting his eyes as he tossed it at her.

BANG!

Jana howled as she was blinded by the flash from the stun grenade. "YOU UNDERDEVELOPED LITTLE FREAK!" She swung her sword wildly, one hand remaining at her face as she searched for her enemy.

Soon her sight was restored, but by then she heard the sound that marked the end of the fight.

Chk-chick!

She slowly turned around, and saw Hunter Lok with his Reaver shotgun aimed right at her. He was close enough not to miss, but perhaps too close.

"That will take you out if you shoot it at this range." Jana wasn't too sure of that assumption.

"Worth the risk," Lok shrugged. "Now if you don't mind...I have a job to do."

He fired. Jana swung her sword up as the shell exited the barrel. The plasma coated shell collided with the magnetically controlled plasma blade.

Needless to say the results were climactic.

Lok was tossed back by the explosion, slamming into the wall of the structure behind him. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath that had been knocked out of him by his attack.

Did that finally kill her?

_"Good work Irken Lok," Commander Dev nodded, impressed. "Mission accomplished."_

_"Thank you SIR!" Lok snapped to attention, saluting his superior by rank and height._

_"You'll make a perfect soldier one day," Dev nodded. "I can just tell. Now, at ease and dismissed! Ever yday is a new mission and you still have one to complete!"_

Lok looked up to confirm the death of his target, and only saw a crater with a few stains of blood around it. Picking up his Reaver, he rushed over and investigated the impact area. He searched for ten minutes and found no evidence that Jana had survived his attack.

"Loe, this is Lok, Target One is confirmed terminated." Lok spoke into his radio.

"Awesome! Let's start raking in the cash!" Loe cackled. "Okay buddy the control center is a few hundred meters east of you. Just keep going and you'll reach it and we'll have the Anti Orbital guns under control."

"I'll be discreet about it," Lok nodded. "Lok, out."

He slid the shotgun onto his back and turned to continue his mission. His foot stepped on something. He looked down and saw Jana's second plasma sword. Grinning, he picked it up. "Thanks Crazy-Psycho-Bitch!"

He ran off.

But what he didn't notice was the black clad figure of Jana appearing from thin air. She was laying near the crater, lying on her stomach. She had used her Stealth Generator to hide from Lok, who had the advantage despite Jana's frustration. She groaned as she sat up, pain shooting through her entire body.

"That bastard," She whispered. "When I find him I-"

"You'll do _what?_ Get beaten up again?"

Jana spun, aiming her elbow at the newcomer. The Irken behind her caught her attack. Jana got up and swung a left hook at the slightly taller Irken, who once again caught it. They stood there, the weakened Jana still struggling to overcome her target's defence.

"I'm not your enemy here," A pair of blue eyes narrowed.

"I have no comrades," Jana hissed. "I only have my master, and I have failed him." She went limp, her arms falling to her sides. "Just kill me now. I have allowed a fool to defeat me."

"He was no fool," The taller Irken replied. "He was a professional, a trained fighter and assassin...it is an honour to survive against him."

Jana looked up, surprised. "Who are you?"

The Irken stepped out of the shadows of the structure and into the moon light. Clad in a black battle suit with blue armour plating on the arms and legs and a tight blue shirt over her upper body, the Irken had more weapons than Lok did, but they were all smaller.

She offered the shorter Irken a hand. "I am an enemy of the Irken Empire, like you."

"But you do not serve the same person I do." Jana shook her head. "My objective is to see that his rise to the throne of the empire is uninterrupted."

"Honey, I couldn't care less who rules as long as the current Tallest get what they deserve." The taller Irken replied. "I'm along right now though, not even the resistances will trust me, and for good reason. When I served the empire I conquered entire planets for them until they betrayed me." She extended her arm a bit. "So I'm thinking...why not let me help you bring them down? Your master can have the throne if he's as great as you say he is, and I just get my honour back."

This was no generic drone of Red and Purple. Jana hesitantly held up her own hand and grasped the blue eyed Irken's leather clad hand. "Who are you?"

"Oh, nobody special," The Irken grinned. "But you can call me _Skullene._"

Xxx

End of Chapter


	3. Chapter 3

Lok's Hunt

Invader Zim is property of Jhonen Vasquez.

Jana is property of Zim'sMostLoyalServant.

Honk if you curse Nick for getting rid of the show.

Xxx

"_Good morning, sexy." A voice whispered into Lok's antennae, making them stand on end._

_His amethyst eyes snapped open. For a moment he was on guard and watching for an impending attack, and then realized he was held in the protective embrace of the Irken he had met the night before: Drosco Pocrule. They were still clothed-except Drosco's jacket and boots along with Lok's shoes and shirt were set out in front of the bed._

_He remembered drinking, dancing, and enjoying himself last night. His PAK took a moment to retrieve the memory lost in his drunken spree._

_He went back to a hotel with Drosco and cuddled up to the taller Irken, forgetting the world where he was just the short food drone who went from the frying pan and into the inferno. They kissed a bit, but aside from Drosco's hand touching Lok's sensitive antennae, nothing else._

_Lok turned over so his face wasn't buried into Drosco's chest. "Morning," After a split second he added another word. "Handsome."_

"_I've been thinking about that problem you told me about last night," Drosco yawned, sitting up and stretching. His arms were not muscular, but they were hardened by the work that Drosco went through every day: maintaining, building, and repairing robots and vehicles._

"_Which problem? The one where I have crime bosses after me or the one where my employers always try to get me killed?" Lok groaned, turning over again._

"_Actually it was the one with your antennae." Drosco stroked one of Lok's antennae to emphasize this. Lok squeezed his eyes shut at the physical contact with the sensitive appendage, exhaling a bit. "The problem where somebody keeps cutting off your antennae, remember?"_

_Oh yeah, Lok had that problem on most missions. Somehow or some way one of his antennae would be severed through some unfortunate event._

"_Oh yeah...now I remember." Lok sighed._

"_I've got a gift waiting for you at my shop tonight then," Drosco winked, and leaned down, kissing Lok on the lips. Drawing away from the shorter Irken, the mechanic grinned. "Just drop by and I'll have a solution to your problem."_

"Wow Lok, here I thought by now you'd at least lose an antenna, but that Jana girl hardly scratched you." Loe broke Lok out of his fantasy world of memories.

"Pretty sure one would have fallen off if not for the kinetic shielding implant." Lok mumbled.

"What's that?" Loe pounced on that one slip up, damn it! "Kinetic Shielding Implant? For antennae? Dude have you been holding out on the cash?"

"No...it was a gift." Lok sighed. "From a very reliable friend."

More like the only old flame who hasn't come back to try and kill Lok.

"Well do tell comrade." Loe leaned back in Lok's chair ,arms crossed behind his head.

Lok sighed. "About the shield implant?"

"That and this 'friend'-"

"No." Lok said tersely. "I'll talk about the implant, but keep him out of it or I swear upon the gods I will come back up there and hit you in the-"

"Okay! Okay comrade!" Loe cut him off. "Man, touchy."

"Okay, the implant is actually attached to my antennae, it's just given a miniature Vortian cloaking device. You know, the type that hides the device's components but not any organic material?"

"Yeah, heard of that." Loe nodded.

"It creates a thin but reasonably strong layer of shielding that keeps my antennae from being cut off by the smallest accident. It can make weapons kinda glance off of it, or give me a second to get out of dodge before it fails." Lok paused and knelt on an edge overlooking a plaza that separated him from the structure where the command post was.

Setting his shotgun and carbine down, he zipped up his coat and took out a knife as he scoped out the area. There were a few guards chatting on top of some rubble from a collapsed wall. Then two sentries outside the command post, at least three or four others inside it.

Lok moved down into the plaza, keeping in the shadows.

"So what do you think of that Jana chick?" One guard, an Irken asked. "Real pretty looking, who here would tap that?"

"Yo!" All four guards raised their hands at the same time.

"Still, gotta admit she's as gold plated as that maniac Skullene." A second guard, a gray scaled Arkenian added.

"Mhm, mhm, but you know what they say, always need a little work to get to the Squeedlyspooch." The Irken guard grinned.

"I'm guessing this part of the Squeedlyspooch is below the waist." The Arkenian said dryly.

"Aw shut up, you're just mad cuz you can't screw somebody without cutting up their insides." The Irken snapped.

Lok shook his head. 'For a smart Irken, this Jana hires some really unprofessional help.'

"Hm? Hold on." A Vortian guard tapped his radio headset. "Fire Team 1 here. Mhm...okay, got it."

He looked to them. "Up to the roof boys, the GESS are being moved back in here."

"Got it boss," The four aliens moved towards the stair case that led to the upper wall.

But none of them ever made it.

Lok slipped in behind them, and went to work. The alien at the back, an Aenoran found his throat being cut. Lok lowered him gently to the ground and moved onto the Arkenian.

The scales protecting its throat would pose a problem for his knife, so Lok sheathed it in favour of a white phosphorous grenade. He triggered it, and slipped it into the pocket of the Aenoran's coat before backing away.

Moments later all three aliens burst into flames. They all shrieked and writhed, rolling around.

"Boom." Lok whispered, moving nto the shadows as several figures came down from the command center.

"By the goddess! What happened?" A Vortian leaped down, followed by a Prekian-which was like a spider shaped creature that had evolved enough to manipulate objects with its two front most legs.

"Poor souls," The Prekian whispered, shaking her head.

"The intruder's gotta be around here somewhere." The Vortian growled, not noticing Lok slip a grenade into the pocket of his officer's jacket.

Lok slipped back into the darkness as the Vortian began to go into a speech.

"I swear upon the blood my men that as long as I draw breath, I shall endeavour to avenge my fallen comrades!" The Vortian declared.

"I'll follow you to the end sir!" The Prekian sniffed, wiping a tear from four of its eight eyes.

"Yes! To the end comrade, or may we burn for our failure!" The Vortian smirked...

And then the grenade exploded and consumed them in a plasma explosion. They never even had a chance.

"Aw damn, somebody is down there, I know it!" One of the two sentries shouted.

"Drop a flare down and get ready!" The second ordered.

"What's happening?" Somebody shouted from the command center.

"Stay there, it is not safe here! Call the GESS back, hurry!"

A moment later a red flare was dropped down, illuminating the shadows Lok had been using to hide himself. They immediately spotted him, and both sentries fired their rifles down at him.

Cursing, Lok brought his spider legs up and formed an energy shield. The salvo kept up as he moved further back from the two marksmen, who did not give him a chance to lower the shield and retaliate with one of his own lasers.

Finally, more and more of their shots began to go wide, missing Lok's shield and taking chunks out of the ground instead. He lowered the shield and brought up his own pistol. Three quick shots made the soldiers retreat to cover while Lok used his spider legs to propel himself up to where he hid his weapons. Bringing up his carbine and hanging the shotgun on his back, he climbed up to the top of the temple he was positioned on. I was essentially a cross shape that was hollow on the inside save for some altar at the center. The interior was a big arch shaped in every direction. The roof curved up because of this shape, forcing Lok to use his spider legs to help himself remain on balance as he climbed to the other side of the convex roof top.

And wouldn't you know it; the roof was just about level with the wall that went around the perimeter of the city. The wall leads to a corner, where it raised up a bit to a platform that had a pillar at each corner. Then the wall turned left to the west and went to the structure where the command post was. The structure itself was a part of the wall, which separated the city from what was left of a small harbour or fishing village outside the wall. The wall continued north to the most northeast corner of the city itself from that structure. Connected to the wall was a small bridge that led to what looked like a platform that had been repurposed as a landing pad for a small transport ship.

He managed to spot several figures loading crates into the ship, and two GESS stood guard over the bridge at each end.

"Loe, please tell me you thought to jam their radios." Lok said before he leaped over to the wall.

"You're Johnny on the Spot boss," Loe replied. "Their long range radios went down after you took care of that She-Devil, courtesy of yours truly and a few viruses. I don't think they'll know what happened here for a while."

"They will if that transport gets off the ground." Lok reached the corner structure, pulled a ninety degree turn to the left and started down the short flight of stairs.

"Want us to take them out from orbit?"

"Negative, the whole damn resistance will see the light show," Lok then dropped into a roll as several shots tore up the stairs just as he got off of them. He brought his carbine up and saw the two sentries standing at the base of the stairs leading to the command center at the far end of the wall that all three fighters now stood on.

Raising his carbine, Lok gripped the handle of the secondary weapon attached to it. "Just hold position! I'll handle them and get the Ant-Orbital guns off line!"

"Better hurry boss, looks like they don't want us to sit around up here." Loe said. "They launched a few fighters from one of their main land bases."

"Can you handle them!" Lok asked, kneeling to avoid several more shots.

"Yeah but let's not push things." Loe nodded. "If you get that Gun under control we can actually help you."

"Gotcha!" Lok fired the under slung launcher, which fired a canister.

It opened in mid air, and a metallic net trapped one of the two sentries within it. He fell, screaming as the Sulphuric Acid that began to leak out of the canister attached to the net and onto him burned his skin. The Vortian's comrade pulled out a Bio-Cutter and tried to cut the net away from him, firing at Lok with a pistol to keep him away.

But Lok took careful aim with his carbine and fired just as the soldier got the Vortian free. The Vortian crawled away from the net, whimpering.

Lok ignored the badly burned Vortian and rushed up the stairs. As he reached the top, the two remaining operators in the base met him in a final stand. He slammed the butt of his rifle into the closest one before he leaped off of the final step. The rifle collided with the alien's testicles and allowed Lok to back kick him, making him tumble down twenty or thirty steps.

The other operator, a small Irken pulled out a pistol, but found himself at the tip of Lok's carbine. Lok raised one non-existent eye brow and said. "This is the part where you black out."

The Irken nodded, and then literally fainted on the spot. Lok chuckled, but his celebration was cut short when the transport began to charge its engines.

"Damn!" He rushed down the north stairway and along the wall. The two GESS ahead of him roared and charged at him. One lunged, but he leaped up, planted one foot on its head and leaped over it, leaving behind his third White Sulphur grenade to burn it into a crisp as it howled in pain. The other one required a more active approach...so he shot it four times in the face from where he landed, in a crouched stance. It fell as the plasma tore through its armoured skin.

He made for the bridge as the next two GESS howled. One bared its horns and charged at him. He fired a Sulphuric Acid laced net at it, but the acid just seemed to make it madder as the net settled, covering the head and shoulders of the GESS.

"Oh crap-" Lok rolled to his right and tumbled over the edge of the wall. He grabbed the edge just in time, keeping a grip on his carbine. The GESS slammed into the stairs, and howled as the acid began to get into its eyes. It began to stumble around in a blind effort to get the net off of itself and fell into the plaza below, landing on its head with a 'crack'.

The second one was standing over Lok just as he began to pull himself up.

"_Hunter._" The GESS rumbled, grabbing Lok by the neck and holding him up, over the edge...which led to a hundred foot fall to the rocks.

Struggling in its grasp, the tiny Irken reached into his coat pocket and grabbed a small disc shaped device. He slammed it down on the GESS's arm. It looked at it and growled.

It released Lok, who extended his PAK's spider legs and managed to dg them into the wall, only losing ten feet.

"Sorry pal, nothing personal." Lok then activated the Remotely Detonated explosive he attached to the GESS's arm. The GESS turned towards the transport and began to walk towards it, heeding it's masters' call. It paused as the device beeped. It looked down at its left arm.

The GESS's entire left side exploded into a shower of gore while what was left of the right side was blown off of the wall and landed in the shallows below. The occupants of the transport ship left behind what crates couldn't be carried and got on board, preparing to take off.

"FLORP!" Lok began to curse with some words he got off of Skullene. "DOMNIA QUOI! KISGAREE SHOO SHEN!" He growled. "Loe, can you hack the guns?"

"I need a direct link to them!" Loe replied.

Lok spun and ran faster than he had ever gone before. Hopping over the dead GESS and leaping up the stairs several at a time, he rushed into the improvised command center and accessed the command controls. At that moment he noticed a large amount of GESS swarming the plaza below. They were all heading for the command center.

"Damn!" Lok worked quickly.

One GESS smashed a window open. Lok fired his pistol at it several times, forcing it back as he worked with one hand. "There you go Loe!"

"Alright, command of Orbital Defence and Anti-Air Artillery achieved." Loe said. "Firing."

A missile shot from a turret hidden in the ruins and struck the transport as it began to charge its main engines. It was blown to pieces, scattering wreckage over the plaza below. "Direct hit! Confirm?"

"Direct hit confirmed! You got them!" Lok shouted. "But I have a problem of my own!"

"I know! I'm accessing the Neural-Command Programming," Loe, who was typing faster than ever before in his original chair shouted. "And...there!"

Suddenly all of the GESS stopped. Lok opened his eyes, which had a pair of claws just inches from them as another GESS had squeezed itself inside and had been about to cut him to pieces. The GESS, along with the hundreds outside in the plaza collapsed, their organs shut down by Loe.

"Quick thinking." Lok wiped some sweat off of his forehead. "Alright, objective two achieved."

"Objective 3: land on mainland." Loe read off the list Lok had made earlier. "Objective 4: Locate and terminate Irken Leka. Secondary objective involves terminating her mercenary guards, they have smaller bounties, but they're worth a few thousand each."

"Sounds like my kind of mission. No genetic monsters or fancy sword wielding women." Lok said. "And people wonder why I'm back on men now."

He chuckled, and the GESS in front of him finally collapsed. Its claws collided with his antennae, but bounced off in a rain of sparks. Lok's antennae were covered in a thin layer of golden energy that faded. Lok looked at the claw and then felt his antennae. "Heh, looks like those Antennae Protectors Drosco made still work! Sweet."

"Drosco? That's the name of your 'friend'?" Loe teased Lok.

"Shut up or I'll shoot you down next." Lok threatened.

"The ship's in your name, no skin off my nose." Loe said, nonchalant.

Grumbling, Lok set off to retrieve his fighter and head for the mainland.

Xxx

"High orbit achieved," Skullene intoned, bringing the luxury Courier ship she owned out of Zedia V's Gravity Well.

"How did you manage to acquire this on a Bounty Hunter's salary?" Jana, who sat in the co-pilot's seat asked.

"Oh...I stole it from Admiral Tez." Skullene shrugged. "Traded in Admiral Riz's ship for this one in a way."

"Riz? Heard of him, supposedly got himself killed while visiting a..." Jana paused. "High Security...prison."

"Yep, got sent there for trying to knock off Red." Skullene replied casually. "Got caught, got sent to Painomania, Riz uh...I prefer not to bring up our time together there. I got sick of it, and killed him and just about everybody there. Stole his ship, stole Admiral Tez's since she wasn't a total cheap ass, end of story."

Jana nodded, fiddling with a device in her hands. "Typical, I get my ass handed to me by an IDIOT and I still can't get this piece of _caragash_ excuse for a recorder to work!"

"What's wrong with it?" Skullene asked, setting the ship to auto-pilot.

"UH...let me just say my method of travelling left it damaged. I have it repaired but it still refuses to work! There is an important message from my master which may yet save my mission!" Jana struggled with the device.

"Here, let me see it." Skullene took the device and stood up. "Activate interactive hologram: Paneece."

"Paneece the chief science advisor?" Jana asked out loud, remembering the Irken Empire's greatest hacker and scientist of Zim's age.

"No, she's just a hacker, why?" Skullene asked.

"Oh...no reason." Jana replied as an image of a younger Paneece appeared.

"Thank you for selecting this hologram, how may I be of assistance?"

"I need to repair this module," Skullene held up the device.

"I shall try my best to assist, but bear in mind this hologram is based off of possibly outdated knowledge of Irken Paneece, as the last down load of current information was seven months ago." The hologram informed Skullene.

"Just fix it."

And in ten minutes it was fixed, when Jana couldn't make it work for the whole year she had been working on it!

"Program dismissed." Skullene watched her younger sister vanish.

"Excellent! Thank you!" Jana took the device, set it down, and activated it. "You seem trustworthy enough, so maybe I can allow you to stay and listen to this. My master did say you had mutual goals with us."

"_Had?"_

Before Jana could reply...the image of Tallest Zim appeared, sitting on his throne.

"_Whoa_ that guy's tall!" Skullene said. "Why isn't he the Tallest now?"

"Sh!" Jana hushed her.

"_Jana, this is an emergency message I intended for you to look at when you reach your destination." _Zim said. _"I forgot to warn you of one key threat to your mission asides from the Dib-Stink human." _His eyes narrowed. _"He is an Irken, a very powerful one, loyal to the empire, and you may find yourself confronting him."_

"As if one loyal Irken beating you wasn't enough." Skullene teased her.

"_He is a highly illusive warrior of great calibre, capable of assassinating the most secretive war lord or politician!"_ Zim continued. _"And I was only lucky he died with the Tallest on the Massive alongside his compatriots. He leads a covert special unit in the time you are heading to, and you may confront him if the Tallest become aware of your presence. He will come alone, but well equipped and well armed."_

"Well at last everybody will think you are dead." Skullene comforted the Shadow.

"_Do not engage him unless necessary. Allow history to play out and let him die, as his fate is the only thing that will permanently remove him."_ Zim stood. _"He is also very enigmatic, to the point where I never even found out his real name! He speaks in riddles and puzzles, and guards his secrets closely!"_

"Never heard of him." Skullene said.

"Quiet," Jana whispered.

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, be quiet!"

"I'M SORRY!"

(I don't own space balls)

"_Jana, I warn you again he is a great threat. So I say this,"_ Zim said. _"Beware of the Almighty Nameless One!"_

...

"Almighty Nameless One?" Skullene giggled. "I think your friend has a screw loose."

"DO NOT INSULT TALLEST ZIM!" Jana shrieked at Skullene, drawing a knife.

"Whoa okay girl-wait, Tallest _Zim?_" Skullene looked at the image. "What the florp?"

"_He goes by several aliases."_ Zim said. "_His most known one is this...Hunter...LAK!_"

The two Irkens stood there, staring at the pre-recorded message from Tallest Zim, three and a half centuries in the future.

"_Good luck my Shadow, and avoid Lak at all costs!...but if you have to meet him, see if you can find out what he was trying to lock for all of his life, that seriously kept me up at night a lot."_ Zim said. _"Tallest Zim, out!"_

The message ended.

...

Skullene looked at Jana. "That would have come in handy earlier, don't you think?"

"...just shut up." Jana went to the passenger cabin.

"Wait! Why did he call himself Tallest Zim?" Skullene went after her. "Hey! I have questions! Was that _the_ Zim you were talking to? What did he mean by Lok and the IDIOTs dying with Red and Purple on the Massive? How would he know that's when they will die? HEY!"

Xxx

End of chapter


End file.
